Below a video made by Lane’s brother.
On April 18th, 2014, Lane’s life dramatically changed upon doing something he had done with great success his whole life: He dove in head first.
It was metaphorically the same thing Lane had done many times over whether it was moving away from his hometown of Sacramento to San Luis Obispo to attend junior college or entering the highly competitive and cutthroat industry of startup software sales at a Silicon Valley startup without any experience or college degree. It wasn’t as much of a pattern as much as it was a philosophy in life. Find what you want to do, go for it, and you’ll be able to figure it out, a rare outlook on life that can likely be traced to his youth in which the same sense of adventure and gumption saw Lane earn full Eagle Scout status.
Along the way, Lane could have settled down many times over. He always made friends and he always was at the center of fun. He didn’t have to leave Sacramento in 2000, but the idea of new setting was exciting. With a vibrant social circle and the appeal of being in a hip college town, Lane spurned the familiarity of the known for the adventure of the unknown and headed to Silicon Valley.
Doing software sales at a startup wasn’t exactly a soft landing either. Notorious for a high amount of employee churn spanning veterans and rookies alike, Lane hit the ground running, bucked the odds, and became one of the most successful and longest tenured sales employees at SugarCRM.Professionally, he had made it. Away from work Lane was thriving as well as every weekend was booked in advance with concerts, sporting events, and trips. Life again was good, but Lane decided it was time to head back to the Sacramento area and reconnect with old friends and family.
Lane returned to Sacramento in 2012 and shortly after decided to tackle a new career challenge by joining ACT-ON Software, another company in which he made a very favorable impression both at the office and socially. Ultimately though, Lane felt it was time again for a new adventure and left his job in late 2013 and planned an ambitious trip that would span Hawaii, Vietnam, Korea, and Thailand.
Some were skeptical, some were jealous, some were worried, but mostly everyone knew they’d miss him like crazy. For those who didn’t understand the need to go on such an ambitious adventure, the rationale for such a bold change of pace was evident in the subject of the email updates he sent to his loved ones as they all read, “You Only Live Once”.
It was evident in those updates and his photos that Lane was having the time of his life and all were eager for his return to hear more and what might be next. Only weeks away from his planned return, Lane went on a snorkeling excursion as water sports had been a key part of his time abroad. Unfortunately a miscommunication led to Lane diving off the boat into extremely shallow water and causing a C4 spinal fracture. Luckily a doctor was on board at the time of accident and assisted in stabilizing Lane and getting him to a local clinic where he was later airlifted to a Bangkok hospital.
Lane was transported back to the US in early May and underwent a surgery at UCSF shortly thereafter before undergoing some physical therapy at Valley Medical in San Jose. After a month at Valley Medical, Lane was transitioned to his friend Josh and his wife Irit’s home in Sacramento. Lane now has the benefit of friends and family as well as a part time caretaker helping him in day to day routine as well as his recovery.
Those who know Lane are quick and longwinded to tell you about him. Regardless of when and where you’ve met him, the same characteristics seemed to resonate with everyone he met and are at the core of Loving Lane’s mission to support and chronicle Lane’s ongoing recovery. We hope you’ll join us in helping Lane and his family through this tough time and thank you for support.